FateAlter
by Nanashi Wanderer
Summary: AU: Ten years after the travesty known as the Fourth Holy Grail War, the world begins to change. A new war is rising, another fight for the grail. However, this fight feels different. With a new generation of masters rising to the challenge, will they live and become adults worthy of the legacies left to them? Or fall into darkness? A heavily altered retelling of Fate/Stay Night.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Fate universe. **

I am the light of the sky

Hope is my body and love is my blood

I have seen the possibility of world untouched

Untouched by hate and embraced by life

Having seen all the possibilities

As I fight for lives of those who have lost

So I shall call upon these plains of hope

**Prologue**

Silvery blonde hair fell in front of Illya's face as she backed away from the wolves. Her crimson eyes darted between the creatures, trying to figure out what she could do to defeat them. She had been sent out into the wilderness to summon a servant. This servant would be her protector and the tool to grant her family, the Einzberns, victory in the upcoming Holy Grail War. However, as she still had yet to summon a servant, she found herself in this situation.

Keeping her eyes locked onto the wolves, watching to see what they'd do. Clutching the hem of her dress tightly, she decided to once again repeat the evocation needed to call a servant into the world. Though she had dropped her catalyst a distance away, she knew that this was no time to worry about whether or not that stone slab would've worked. At this point, she just needed to be able to call upon a heroic spirit.

Whispering out the contract, the young magus placed all of her hope into it working this time around. Letting out a breath at the end of the evocation, she soon realized the folly of the action. One of the wolves was proceeding towards her, almost as if her evocation's ending had declared her open season.

Lifting her arms in a defensive posture, Illya awaited the attack. The attack didn't come as she looked up to see the wolf recoil from an object colliding with its head. Blood painting the snowy forest ground a dark red. The other two wolves seemed to recoil in response, their teeth showing as they pulled their jaws into ferocious snarls.

Scared far more than she was before, Illya turned away from the wolves and started to scramble in the direction of whatever saved her. She couldn't hope for a second coming of her saviour, but that didn't stop her from trying to get away. The wolves were focused on something other than her, or so she thought.

"Watch out!" a male voice called out to her as another projectile sailed past her.

Pressing herself to the ground, Illya obeyed the command, covering her head with her hands. She heard a squelching noise, followed by a yelp, from one of the wolves, signifying its death. Keeping herself on the ground, the young woman prayed that the third wolf wouldn't be the one to be successful.

Vibrations in the ground vaguely alerted her to a large form running past her. The subsequent snarl from the wolf told her that it had been confronted. Determining that it was safe enough for her to take a look at what was going on; Illya turned her body to get a good look. Standing above her was a man dressed in a dark green cloak. In his left hand he clutched a bow, while his right clearly held a bloodied arrow.

Lying in front of him were the corpses of the three wolves; their blood staining the snow a dark red. As she stared at the corpses, the man turned around. His leather clad body hinted at a lean physique with some muscle definition. He seemed to stand at about five feet and eight inches, making him shorter than Illya expected, but he was clearly into his adulthood. The russet bangs hanging over his face nearly hid his chocolate brown eyes, but the Einzbern magus was still able to notice them.

Opening her mouth to question him, she was beaten to the punch.

"I ask of you, are you the one who called for me?"

His voice was calming for Illya. She knew as soon as he spoke that this was her servant. Though it may not have been the one that she had been told she would summon, there was no changing the facts. This was her servant. He was there to protect her and fight for her.

Smiling up at him, she finally found her voice.

"Yes, I did call for you, Archer."

Illya's chest fluttered with satisfaction at speaking with her servant. This was the first step that she would take on her path into the Holy Grail War. Everything was going decently. She doubted it would be to the expectations of her family and what they wanted from her. However, she could easily defend herself with the fact that her servant genuinely existed.

"Archer?" the servant stated, as if confused by the title. "Milady, my name is Bran. Though I may be an Archer, I would appreciate the usage of my name."

His words reminded Illya of the one thing that she was not raised to expect. While proceeding towards summoning a Saber or Berserker, she knew that they were not known to have a strong penchant for acting without their master. However, as she had called an Archer, there was that little detail of their independent action skill that worried her.

"Are you alright milady?" Bran asked, breaking Illya from her thoughts. "You look quite pale, is that natural for you?"

The young woman stared at her servant blankly for a few moments, before cluing in to what he was asking. Smiling mischievously, she answered.

"No, it's cold out here and I'm tired. Would you be willing to give me a ride back to the house?"

"Of course," Bran answered.

He extended a hand towards her. Accepting it, she felt herself being lifted easily off the ground and into his arms. Being held bridal style, the young woman couldn't stop the fluttering in her chest. She was never carried this way. Actually, she was never carried at all. Snuggling into the warmth of his grip, she realized how cold she had actually had been. Allowing her mind to drift off, the harrowing encounter with the wolves behind her, she fell asleep within her servant's arms.

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Illya woke up to find herself in her room. The warm blankets covering her small body kept her rooted to the bed as she looked around, trying to remember how she had arrived here. As she searched her memories, she suddenly remembered that she had summoned a servant. Excitedly, she pushed herself out of her bed and ran to the door to her room.

Ripping it open, she rushed outside the room only to be noticed by one of the maids. Impishly grinning at the approaching homunculus, the young woman turned away and bolted down the hallway. She didn't want to be returned to her room, as she was assuming that was going to be the maid's purpose in approaching her. Illya wanted to find her servant and take him to Jubstacheit, the head of the Einzbern family, he would be able to appraise him as well as see that she could manage as a master.

As she ran through the halls of the building, attempting to find her Archer, she soon realized that it may have just been her imagination. Maybe she hadn't summoned a servant. Maybe the encounter with the wolves was just a dream. Feeling let down, she turned around, attempting to head back to her room.

"I'm not who you were wanting. That's what I can surmise," a familiar masculine voice stated from a nearby room.

Excited by the sound of the voice, Illya knew that this was her servant. Moving towards the room where the voice came from, she did manage to catch Jubstacheit's response.

"Of course you aren't. She was supposed to summon the strongest servant that she could. To believe that she botched the ritual and called upon a Heroic Spirit that has no connection to any form of magic. No divine blessings and no skills to help push her to the top of the war."

Angry at the words she was hearing, Illya burst through the door. She couldn't stand the way that her servant was being treated. He may not have been the one that she had originally been given the catalyst for, but he was her servant.

"Oh, Illyasviel, how are you feeling?" Jubstacheit inquired as his eyes locked with the young woman's.

"Why are you berating my servant?" she threw back at him. "I summoned him. Even though the catalyst I was given didn't work. I summoned him and he responded."

Illya could feel a rage building inside her. This was her servant. He was a sign of a successful summoning of a heroic spirit, her guarantee that she was part of the Holy Grail War.

"Thank you milady, however, your family head does raise some valid points. I do not have any skills that could push your advantage in the war. I'm an Archer who fought for the sake of his people. I did not even know magic existed until you called me here," he stated resolutely.

The young woman pouted in response to her servant's words. She didn't like the fact that he was willing to take the abuse that the family head was giving out. However, she also knew that there was no point arguing with him. It was possible to get him to listen to her on this topic by using a command spell, but that would only work against her in the long run.

"Alright," she finally managed to say.

"Now that this is dealt with," Jubstacheit said, his voice amicable with only the barest hint of irritation underlying it. "We must move onto the important matters. Archer, what are you capabilities? What can you do?"

The bitterness in the man's tone did not escape Illya's ears. He didn't like the fact that their long sought after relic proved unable to call upon the servant she was supposed to. However, she could care less. Tuning out as her servant began to speak; she took the time to take a very good look at him.

He was no longer wearing the leathers that had adorned his body when she first summoned him. Instead he seemed to be dressed in a basic cloth tunic. Without the armour, he also looked smaller than she had expected. His build was definitely lean, there was no doubt about that, but he seemed to be less muscular than her initial belief. As she took in his appearance in further detail, she felt her face heat up. Growing up in a home full of female homunculi, she found this to be an interesting experience. Logging it away for future reference, she returned her attention to the conversation.

"Ah, Illyasviel, I may have a different opinion on your servant," Jubstacheit said when he saw that she was refocused on them.

Disbelief painted Illya's eyes as she waited for further elaboration. Whatever her servant was capable of had truly impressed the family head in some way.

"He'll work perfectly for your mission," the man said with an uncomforting grin spreading across his face.

"And what would that mission be?" Bran inquired, drawing Illya's attention to him.

"It's nothing much. Her goal is not just winning the Holy Grail for the family. We also need her to deal with a traitor and his progeny."

Illya's eyes were still on Bran as Jubstacheit spoke, she took in the subtle shifts in his stance and the uncomfortable look on his face. These were all signs that he did not like where this was going.

"May I inquire who these people are?" he asked nervously.

A wicked smile replaced Jubstacheit's previous one.

"She needs to eliminate the man who abandoned her, her father Kiritsugu Emiya."

**End Prologue**

**A/N: Alright, here is the prologue to my alternate retelling of Fate/Stay Night. This fic will rely heavily on Fate/Zero, so if you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. It will also include a new set of servants, with only two returning from the original Fate/Stay Night. This can already be seen in the prologue here with the Archer class servant that Illya summoned. Now, I'm planning on taking this fic slowly, updating on a slower basis as I work to make the chapters as top notch as I can. I want this story to be a great piece of fan work, so I'm really taking my time with it. Anyways, feedback is appreciated and until next time, **

**Nanashi Wanderer**

**P.S. Touhoufanatic was the beta on this fic. He is also an idea person who has helped me brainstorm on numerous ideas for new servants and plot lines for this story. **

**P.P.S. All, but two of the servants will be new to this fic. The remaining two will be ones from F/SN, but under new masters. Hope you all look forward to it. **


End file.
